Ponic Shade
Ponic Shade was born in the Shadow Realm to the race known as Veluts. Ponic was raised in a quiet life with his family and younger brother, Markov. When a rival village run by the race known as the Ulters attacked Ponic's village, it was ill-equipped to deal with the threat they posed. Despite Velut resistance, they fell quickly under Ulter attack and the village was absorbed as an Ulter city-state for years. Ponic's parents ran an underground movement providing aid to Velut loyalists. While not formal members of the resistance, their assistance through medical care and knowledge of loyalist movements was incontrovertible. When information was leaked to the Ulter crown, they were ordered executed. Ponic's parents were able to get both Ponic and Markov away from the house under the semblance of running an 'errand' for them. In actuality, their home was hit hard and both were taken prisoner to be publicly executed. Ponic was present, albeit stealthily, with his brother and watched as their parents were killed. Ponic was about twelve years old at the time. Alone, Ponic was forced to take on a father role for his brother, Markov. Early on, they came upon the young girl named Keera Moinish. Saving her from a lustful Ulter soldier, the three became inseparable and lived in a rundown house on the outskirts of the Velut village since exiting the village was impossible with the occupation. The three did their best, spending their days mostly working to stay alive and get on day-to-day. All this was shattered when a year and a half later, Keera was killed by an unknown light assassin, who was in actuality an Irate Shadow Wielder in disguise. Ponic was unaware that he was still a target of the Ulter crown. The death of Keera was planned by the Ulters, and a few weeks later, his home was hit by Ulter soldiers and Ponic and Markov were taken hostage. They were held as prisoners for two weeks in cells under squalor conditions, barely kept alive with food and water, and hardly if ever allowed to keep themselves clean. By the end of this two week period, Ponic was taken to the king's chambers where Ulter sorcerers, who were ironically of Nictuc/Velut bloodlines and turned Ulter loyalists, infused Ponic with the life form known as Izerion. The plan was to force Ponic to go to the only other known realm to Ulters, Earth, where he would grow and Izerion would break out from him to open the portals between Earth and the Shadow Realm allowing Ulters to conquer the humans and bathe the Earth in Shadow. To further break Ponic's spirit, Ponic was forced to watch as his brother was executed before his eyes. Unknown to Ponic, this was a Shadow illusion. With nothing left in the Shadow Realm, Ponic took the risk and took himself to Earth. The first human he met was Skylos Pantech, going by the name Caleb, and later Neon, who was possessed by an evil spirit at the time known as Pi. After saving Skylos, the three of them worked to end the Pi's plan which involved weapons of mass destruction. Overtime the three grew to be close and a very decent fighting team. Despite Neon'''s ''initial animosity towards him, Ponic grew fond of Neon just as he did Skylos, viewing both of them as his brothers. As time continued Ponic met with the other members of the group: Halo, Rem, Alice and Jack. The original seven battled against Izerion when he broke out of Ponic, eventually cleansing Ponic of the life form; although, in the process Izerion, separated and grew as a completely independent being over time. Many years later, the group was able to liberate the Velut village when the Ulters attempted to force the portal open, destroying it just as the Ulter army attempted to cross onto Earth. As a result, Ponic was reunited with his brother Markov after years of separation from him. Before returning to the Cat Demon Realm, Alice was able to use one of her lives to revive Keera as the group had also found her body in the Shadow Realm, preserved in the Ulter palace. Ponic continued to grow with his friends fighting against dangers. Becoming the groups de-facto strategist, Ponic also grew in power, although he was always fearful of his abilities and kept a tight lid on them. This was ended when he was forced into a battle against Hanzo to save his girlfriend Keera. Despite nearly falling in the fight, Ponic, along with the Void Human Omni, was able to fight and defeat Hanzo; although he was forced to unlock his core to do so. Ponic never did relock his core, and about half a year later, he paid for it as his core began to eat him from the inside without any other Shadow Wielder cores to feast on. Despite initial attempts of calming it down, he failed. This even came to a head when the king of Atlantis, Aldaras, was able to have Izerion further corrupt Ponic's core and turn him into a deranged Shadow Wielder monster. This act, ironically, is what allowed the others to stabilize Ponic's core. With its complete form on the outside of Ponic and easily strike-able, Neon, along with the Egyptian Goddess Nephthys, were able to not only destroy the corrupted side of Ponic's core, but permanently stabilize it so it could function on its own. As a result, Ponic's core is a mixture of Darkness, Shadow, and minor forms of Goddess Energy. Also, Ponic's power is in a constant state of evolution usually forming new forms without his knowledge. This was especially apparent when Hanzo, who was resurrected over time, confronted Ponic a second time. Ponic was able to create a mini shadow dimension while battling Hanzo in a 'pure form of shadow'. Ponic's personality has been shaped by his past. He is somewhat quiet and reserved, although he cracks the occasional joke. While he has come close to giving up frequently, he has a spirit that demands he power through pain and look for light at the end of the dark tunnel. Despite it, Ponic has fallen many times, but he has had his friends to help him get back up. He does not talk about his past with anyone unless asked a direct question regarding it. He keeps the Dagger of Memory on him, a Time Stone, which he uses to look into past memories frequently, perhaps trying to come to terms with his past. Despite this, Ponic has much anger hidden deep within him, resentment that his life had taken the course it did. He vehemently is against the concept of fate and destiny because of this. Ironically, while Ponic is still cautious with his own power, he now seems to embrace new forms of energy and power, sometimes putting himself in danger to achieve the goal of protecting his friends and others, such as his use of Irate shadow power and Mystic Realm energy, both of which nearly killed him. Ponic's main quality is his protectiveness of his friends, viewing them as his family, he will do anything to keep them safe.